The Land Of Contradictions

The recent gang-rape, and physical assault on a young woman who eventually succumbed to her injuries,  has brought about an overwhelming response of fury from people from all walks of life through out the country. How can this happen in a country where some of the most powerful political figures are women, much more than most countries in the world  ? 

To list some of them,  Sonia Gandhi , the head of the ruling Indian National Congress Party , Meira Kumar is  the Speaker of  the Lok Sabha, Sushma Swaraj a prominent leader of the Bharitya Janata Pary,  is the leader of the Opposition. Sushma Patil was the former President of India, Jayalalitha the Chief Minister of Tamil Naidu and the head of  All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party . Mamta Banerjee is the Chief Minister of W.Bengal and the head of the Trinamool Congress Party. Mayawati the head of the Bahujan Samajwati Party was the former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, the largest state in the country. Sheila Dixit is the Chief Minister of the capital Delhi.

 Also during the wedding season you read about the big fat Indian weddings where the bride's father ( businessmen , politician ) spends the equivalent of millions of dollars for his daughter's wedding to entertain thousands of people . The entertainers include top Bollywood or overseas performers who do not come cheap.  

You then have the contradiction of women being treated as chattel, where there is a rape committed in the country every few minutes. Delhi is not just the capital; it has the inglorious distinction of being classified the rape capital of the country According to the New York Times dated December 30th,2012, there were 600 rape cases reported in 2012 with one conviction. The National Crime Bureau statistics show  there were 228650  incidents  against women ,reported which averages almost 628 incidents ( which include crime such as  rape, molestation sexual harassment etc. ) a day,all over India. These do not include those which do not get reported ,including family incidents.

To make matters worse,  almost every day some unthinking politician makes a comment (including some the women politicians) as to how the rape victims brought it upon themselves , how they should dress soberly , how they should not go out at night “  dented & painted “ whatever that means. According to the social activists the problem arises, because it is a patriarchal society where women are treated as mere play things to be used and abused by the males.

However I would like to focus on the fact that almost all  of the rape victims tend to be from the poor or lower castes in the  rural areas or if in the cities from the  working class or the lower or middle middle class. You do not hear about such incidents among the wealthy or the senior bureaucrats. The reason for this is  because the wealthy do not use the public transportation in the evening , nor they do not live in areas which are not well lit, which exposes them  to the lecherous individuals. Also when these affected people go to the authorities to report them ,they are ignored or  not taken seriously , as happened recently with a young seventeen year girl in Punjab and who eventually committed suicide out of shame. 

Yes we do have to change the mind set of the men, but that is long term  solution. What can be done faster is  to amend the laws, but they in themselves will not make  much  of a difference. India has no shortage of laws, the problem is in the enforcement.We have to make the public transportation safe so that young people, particularly women  can travel without fear no matter how late it is. We need to ensure that when they go to the authorities, their complaints are registered, and action is taken immediately . The government needs to allocate more funds to the judiciary to enable them  to beef up the court system so that these cases can be fast tracked. They need to be able to hire better prosecutors, to ensure that they have a higher conviction record.These are relatively quick fixes, if the political will and determination is there.

It is only when laws are implemented without fear or favor,when people are made to pay for their crimes by serving long prison sentences, will we see the changes. Only then will there be one India - not one for the wealthy and well connected and one for everyone else.

Myanmar - Ready For Take Off !!!

Our family returned last week from a six day trip to Myanmar. For once we all agreed that it was one of the best holidays we have had. We went to Yangon, Bagan and Inle Lake. Based on what I have been reading , my observations and the conversations  ( albeit limited) I had  during our trip, I  feel that the country is ready to take off. If I was younger, I would have no hesitation in relocating to Yangon to start afresh.

First let me come clean on my Myanmar (or Burma) connection. My father moved there right after the war and started a business, getting the distribution franchise for international electronic, air- conditioners/refrigerating companies from Japan, India, Europe, UK and the United States. He did very well. While I was born in India, I was taken to Yangon while still a few months old. I spent a happy childhood  flying kites, playing marbles, shooting at birds with catapults. My friends were Indian, Chinese and Burmese. I went to a school run by lay American Methodist missionaries, which required us to attend chapel twice a week. We used to sing gospel and other American folk songs. Elvis Presley, Ricky Nelson and Cliff Richard were all the rage, as were drain pipes and puff hair dos with T-shirts  rolled up a'la Marlon Brando in the Water Front and James Dean. The Beatles were just getting popular. Surprisingly (now that I think about it) , the newspapers carried a lot of international news and one read about the anti colonial movements in Algeria, the murder of Patrice Lumumba in the Congo, and of course the assassination of President Kennedy.   

After the war Burma was one of the most prosperous countries in Asia. The first air-conditioned airport in Asia was in Rangoon in the sixties. I was told by a journalist friend that prior to the war, Burma was the most profitable branch for Mitsui worldwide. However in 1962, General Ne Win took over and announced that Burma was to go down the path of "The Burmese Road To Socialism ". In early 1964, the government announced that it was going to nationalize all private business regardless of who owned it. My father lost all his assets in that country. We moved back to India in the second quarter of that year.

After finishing my studies I ended up in Hong Kong working for Citibank. In nineteen eighty- one, soon after I joined the investment bank, a German colleague and I decided to visit Yangon to make a pitch for a sovereign loan, which was the hot product during those days. Upon our arrival, it seemed that we had gone back in time. While the rest of Asia was going through radical changes, in Burma time had stood still. Nothing had changed in the seventeen years since I had left. In fact things had deteriorated. I had no problem finding our old house and our neighbors. The Burmese central bankers came to pick us up in a pick up and we sat on the wooden benches in the back to go out for dinner. The hotel we stayed in The Inya Lake Hotel built by the Russians was in a terrible condition. There were cockroaches and an occasional rat. I caught an eye infection from the dirty towel in the bathroom. 

This time round however things were different. The airport was modern. The immigration officers were all well groomed, professional and efficient. All spoke English well. The airport was built four years ago, but due to the increased traffic, construction of a new airport is already under way. The roads leading to town were broad and clean. We did not come across any potholes during our entire stay. Sule Pagoda , the downtown area for Yangon had changed, though not completely. Some of the land marks were still recognizable. The building, where my father had his store and office, together with the adjoining building and two cinema theatre were all redeveloped to build the Traders hotel - managed by the Shangri-la hotel chain. All the two and three story wooden structures in our street have been re-developed into four to eight story apartment buildings. The only exception being our old house, a wooden structure almost a hundred years old. The upmarket residential area around Inya Lake would be on par or be considered better than most private residences in Lutyens Delhi.

India and Myanmar share a common colonial heritage .On a sad historical note, the last Indian Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zaffar was exiled to Yangon and is buried close the Shwe Dagon pagoda . In exchange the British exiled the last Burmese king Thibaw Ming to  Ratnagiri in Maharastra where he died and was buried. Because of the British overlords, Myanmar's civil service had more than its fair share of Indians. Also there was a large Indian population in most major towns and cities and in the rural areas. Growing up I remember my father's business and social acquaintances in addition to  the Burmese and Chinese, included Sikhs, Muslims, Marwaris, Guajaratis Bengalis, Tamils and Parsis. Our guide mentioned that in the old Burmese movies the doctors were always portrayed as turbaned Sikhs. 

 

From an external perception Myanmar is ranked among the poorest countries in South East Asia. However, in our limited travels the population we saw appeared to be reasonably fed and clothed. We were told that until last year the minimum price for a car (regardless of the make) was US Dollars One hundred and fifty thousand (unless you were well connected). Since then the duties have now been reduced to one hundred percent. The country has now been flooded with second hand cars, predominantly Japanese, with the exception of an occasional Benz or BMW. I was extremely impressed with the supermarket we visited. It would put most Indian supermarkets to shame in terms of the variety and quantity of goods. They were not cheap by any standards but people were busy shopping. Myanmar is probably the only South Eastern Asian country which is still cash based. Even the hotels will not accept credit cards, so it was surprising to see the prices of the goods. 

With the gradual lifting of sanctions, the influx of business and foreign visitors has shot up. Apparently last year there were only two hundred and fifty thousand visitors. As of early November this year, it was three hundred and fifty thousand and still counting and the peak tourist season was just starting. There are a limited number of hotels in Yangon and as such it is expected that prices will continue to rise in the short term.

With the new foreign investment laws now in the process of being implemented (with boys selling copies of the new investment law at traffic lights), you will see a flood of investors lead by the Japan.  Myanmar was the largest recipient of Japanese war damages and subsequently of aid. There has always been a historical affinity between the two countries in spite of the war.

I would expect in the medium to long term, Myanmar will over take the other South East Asian countries with the exception of Indonesia. Myanmar has a population of almost sixty million. It has a large variety of natural resources including oil and gas. It has rivers and mountains which are gradually being used to generate hydro-electricity. It was the largest exporter of rice and could quickly re-gain its pole position. Burmese teak is of course well know, as are Burmese rubies and jade, most of which over the last decades have been smuggled across to China and Thailand. It has unexploited beaches and hill stations, plus its rich cultural heritage. I was told that almost 95% of the population was literate (could read and write Burmese) - not because of the government, but thanks to the Buddhist monks who run schools in the monasteries. Most of the people we interacted with could speak and understand English, which puts it a step ahead of Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam. 

For the last three to four decades, China (both state and private investors) have dominated foreign investors, together with other South Eastern investors, all working hand in glove with the rulers. The Chinese investments are however resented, as the general feeling is that Myanmar was being used as a raw material supplier to the Chinese industrial machine without a thought being given to the contribution of the welfare of the Burmese or the environment. 

Over the next few years you will see radical changes and a bonanza of opportunities in almost all the sectors, infrastructure, (ports, airports, roads, bridges, rails), financial (banks, finance companies, insurance companies, stock markets), technology, educational and medical institutions.  I could go on, but suffice to say that if I was younger, it would have been a second generation of the Bindra family relocating to Myanmar to seek his fortune.

Is It Gurgaon or Gandagaon ?

A couple of years ago, I had lunch with a pompous,egotistical former colleague. Towards the end of the lunch he asked me where I lived ( a favorite past time of Delhi residents) ? I told him Gurgaon. His response was  "Gurgaon is a dump ". I left the lunch absolutely furious since Gurgaon is where I live.

For those of you who are not familiar with Gurgaon  ( named after Guru Dronacharaya  a guru from the Hindu mythology of Mahabharat) , supposedly a short version of Guru ka Gaon - meaning the Guru's village. It is a new township developed during the eighties to take some pressure off Delhi. It is part of the National Capital Region which is effectively a tri-city - Delhi in the middle with Noida on one side ( in the state of Uttar Pradesh) and Gurgaon ( in the state of Haryana).Gurgaon like Bangalore houses predominantly technology companies and multinationals. In addition it also the base of Maruti Suzuki which set up its first manufacturing plant here. Other Japanese companies such as Hero Honda followed. Auto-component manufacturers also set up plants in the vicinity.

The successive  state governments of Haryana have always adopted  real estate developer friendly policies, allowing the developers to purchase the land and then trying to squeeze in the infrastructure. This resulted in  developments mushrooming  after a rain, without a thought about  the necessary infrastructure . Noida on the other hand purchased the land from the farmers, built the infrastructure and then sold the land.

The residential  complex I live in is in a  neighborhood which is reasonably upmarket, and was developed by  one of Delhi's larger property firms. According to newspaper reports, there was supposed to be an area of 4 acres set aside for a electric sub-station. The developer however sold all the land and now there is no space left for the sub-station.

The power supply continues to a be problem and all the development complexes and private residences have had to invest large amounts in stand by generators which are used constantly due the erratic supply by the state electricity provider. Each year assurances are given that the situation is going to be different next year but it never is.

Every day when I drive to my office I pass by undeveloped areas, which have effectively become  garbage dumps, strewn with plastic bags and construction ruble. These are just  across the street  from fairly upmarket hotels and plush offices.

The building in which I have my office is/was  the flagship building of the second largest real estate developer in the country. Next to it is  the regional head office subsidiary  of a UK based FMCG company. Access to both these buildings is via a short street , the length of which is probably a couple of  hundred yards. The street  is a mess. Every year some patch work is done and come the monsoon, potholes appear and  the road is flooded. You would think between the two companies they would spend a few hundred thousand Rupees to fix the road permanently to ensure that the tenants and employees do not get inconvenienced. Both of them behave like ostriches and refuse to do any thing , probably because  its not within their  courtyard.

All this in spite of the state government  charging  the owners ( through the developers ) development charges on a square foot basis,  which the purchaser has to pay upfront. This is  to  be used to provide the basic infrastructure such as  road, water and electricity. A large portion of the money is apparently lying unused. Whatever money is used is spent on giving contracts to service providers who have been black listed and yet continue to get contracts.

According to my guesstimate, Gurgaon should have one of the higher literacy rates among the cities in the country , including the professionals who work in the office buildings in the city . However it  does not change our behaviour of not caring what is outside my compound. Time and again, I see middle class families or people in very expensive cars, not to mention buses, rolling down the window and throwing things on the roads, highways or outside the compound in which they live.There appears to be a total lack of civil sense.

In the almost six years since I have been here one thing has changed ( see my blog of  March 2010 ). The stray cows which used to wander the streets have disappeared. Instead we have stray dogs and strangely enough stray pigs. It is not unusual to see a pig which has been run over lying on the streets. Wonder who owns them ?

I could go on, but there are however signs of changes ( not just from cows to pigs ) but certainly the transportation infrastructure has, and is continuing to improve. The last mile connectivity from the Metro station to the residences is now provided by scooter and man powered rickshaws. There is now a large bio-diversity park under development. You no longer have to drive to Delhi for cultural activities. Surprisingly you have some of the international rock bands performing here.It is expected that the power situation will improve from next year, but I would not bet on it.

Gurgaon is going through its evolution and hopefully over the next decade , things which make it a modern city will fall into place, but what is regrettable is that the state government had the opportunity to properly plan the city and put aside the land and build the infrastructure, as was done when my former home town  Chandigarh was built ,but the successive politicians were too keen to cash in during their reign to worry about the long term. Unfortunately  this is the story of modern India.

Election By Sound Bites

Over the years I have been watching with fascination the election debates by American politicians. In the past the rulers were selected (or elected themselves ) by the size of their army or by winning battles - which showed their ability to strategize, lead, fight and win. Then as the world began to turn democratic, in most countries, the party which  wins the majority of seats in the parliament elect their own leader. In the the United States because of its unique electoral system,  while the majority of the states vote by party, it now becomes a game of wooing the small percentage of people classified as " undecided". Over the months as the election fever builds up, both party  candidates now funded by huge election war chests, supplemented by the Political Action Committees ( known as the Super PAC's) spend hundred of millions if not billions of dollars in slinging dirt and attacking each other. At times it gets extremely personal. The climax is in the form of the Presidential debates - the vice presidential debates are a side show and the warm up act.

The debates, especially the town hall format, where the debaters walk around,remind me of the World Wrestling Federation  wrestlers circling  each other and going through the jousting, which everyone knows is an act. At the end the candidates, joined by their families smile and  exchange some pleasantries to show that they are nice people. Deep inside both of them are probably  cursing  the sob for having caught you on the defensive.

After the debate the political pollsters, of which the United States has no shortage, supported  by the pundits and fact checkers highlight the sound bites, which  help "the undecided"make up their mind  as to which candidates misrepresented facts and  performed better overall.
 

The first  ground breaking debate between John F.Kennedy and Richard Milhous Nixon, helped Kennedy win. Apparently  Nixon lost because his  media advisers failed to tell  him what to wear, and because he did not put on make up, prior to the debate. The tanned, made up rich photogenic  playboy, war hero would probably have won without even uttering a word.This set the trend and for some debates there are memorable lines such as Lloyd Bensten put down of Dan Quale " Senator - you're no Jack Kennedy" or Ronald Regan's sly quip to Walter Mondale when questioned about his age  ( 73 vs Mondale's 56) " "I want you to know also I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit for political purposes my opponent's youth and inexperience."

If you believe the media which most people do as you often hear " according to the New York Times" or " The Times of India " or "CNN says " elections have been won on the basis of sharp comebacks such as Regan's or by their  interpretation of body language. George Bush Sr. supposedly lost the chance for a second term because he looked at his watch during the debate. This apparently implied that he was uncomfortable.  Al Gore  lost the vote of " the undecided "because of his sighs and the rolling of his eyes implying his superiority or dismisal of George Bush Jr answers to the questions.

As a neutral observer I find it hard to accept that " the undecided " would make up their mind and vote for a particular candidate because he came up with a smart aleck  retort, or by his body language during the debate . To me it  is insulting . I would vote for a candidate based on his track record as a President ( if he is running  for re-election) or his other relevant experience if he up for the first time. After all running a country is much more complex than running a company no matter how large it is, yet we do not have debates between  a short list of candidates to be the Chief Executive of Citigroup or Coca Cola or Pfizer.

I have to use one of  Al Gore's quotes from the 1992 debate, to assume that a particular candidate won an election because of his track record rather than because he was quick on the comeback. “George Bush taking credit for the Berlin Wall coming down is like the rooster taking credit for the sunrise.”

The Beginning Of The End Of Alternative Energy ?

Call me a oil and gas bull, but the recent discovery and step up in exploration of shale reserves, the fields in Africa and the step up in the melting Arctic, oil and gas, in particular the latter, will continue to play a major role in energy consumption over the next hundred years. Will this be the death knell of alternative energy in the long run ?

The rise of the alternative energy was dependent on the increasing cost of oil due to depleting reserves. Also concern about climate change , but if prices had remained as they were in the sixties there would have been very little interest in alternative energy.  Predictions were made that the world was going to be running out energy. Alternative energy sources such as nuclear  energy, solar power, wind power and hydro electric power, were all being touted as the next big thing. Variations of these are wave based energy , offshore wind mills and the like , but they are unlikely to reach commercial production stages.

There have been numerous  nuclear accidents which have happened over the years. You can Google "nuclear energy accidents " and you will find a long list.The well known ones include the Washington Public Power Supply System in the United States, Chernobyl in the USSR, and Fukushima recently in Japan. Incidentally it was not the first time Fukushima had a problem.In 1978.also it some problems.  As a result of this both Germany and Japan , major producers of nuclear energy have decided to gradually close down all nuclear based power generation. India in the meantime appears to be the odd man out by continuing  to tout increased nuclear production.

Based on my limited knowledge of solar power, one of the problems of the solar panels appears to be  the efficiency rate and  the overall costs. While countries such as China and Germany have been subsidizing  solar generation,  to increase the volume of production of solar panels, the manufacturers are going through a rough time. In the meantime solar panel farms are being set up in deserts in many countries, but overall contribution to total energy remains extremely modest .

Wind power off course continues to considered as another alternative, but with strong winds needed and large areas required,these are likely to be in remote areas and grids and transmission lines built to be able to bring the power to urban areas.

Hydro-electricity generating stations are being built but to scale them to sufficient size, huge dams have to be built which leads  to the relocation of population and destruction of environment, as was the case during the Three Gorges project in China , probably the largest such attempt.

This is not to imply that oil and gas production is without environment risk. Traditional oil drilling including deep sea offshore production has been going on for decades and yes there have been accidents, but not on the scale or the consequences of a nuclear melt down in Chernobyl or Fukushima.

Also the long term consequences of new fracking technology use for shale production remains to be seen. There have been reports of it causing minor earthquakes. In addition the large use of water with the possibility of  pollution of water sources is obviously a major cause of concern.

However  with their deep pockets, their strong lobbying abilities and based on the decades of experience which the oil and gas industry has in resolving  problems in difficult terrains, such as Alaska, deep offshore production, sideways drilling, it is likely that they will find means and ways to overcome all of the major hurdles.

Having said all this, it is unlikely that the decline of the alternative energy will start happening next year or next five years, but more likely over the next couple of decades. I could be proven totally wrong and a major fracking accident on the scale of Fukushima could bring the industry to a halt, but if I were a betting man, I would not go short long term on the petroleum  industry.

 

The Corporatization of Religion - 2

In my blog of July 18th, I had written about trying to make the financial dealings of the religion institutions more transparent by incorporating  them. Because of  the wealth these institutions have accumulated over the centuries, there is a lot of misuse or abuse by the minders.

The Economist dated August 18th,2012   has a three page section on the financial mismanagement by the Catholic Church in the United States - the fourth largest in the world after Brazil,Mexico and the  Philippines. While it mentions the good which the Church does, including running 6,800 schools,630 hospitals and 244 colleges and universities,it describes how parishes have been closed, or declared bankrupt. It goes into details about how funds raised for specific purposes have been diverted to other uses, including defending the predatory priests, or for other purposes.

I am sure that the Catholic Church in the United States is not the only institution . As mentioned in my earlier blog, numerous religious institutions in other countries have been found equally guilty. The reason why the misdeeds of the Church have come to light is because of the openness of the American legal system. Now if the other countries were to follow the example I am sure that hundreds, if not thousands,of similar cases will emerge not just for the Catholic Church but other religious institutions as well.

 Interestingly enough the same article  mentioned that the Catholic Church is now resorting to the municipal bond market to raise funds. These issues are presently guaranteed by banks, so I assume that they have  had to reveal their financial affairs to the bank, but more likely they have probably provided some collateral to the institution.

So perhaps one can hope  that the next step will be the incorporation of these religious bodies. These will then make them more transparent and a lot of their  assets will be put to productive use.It is unlikely that this will happen, but there is nothing to stop you from dreaming.

Writing About Art

I was in Mumbai a couple of days ago. In between meetings I had some spare time and decided to stop by the Jehangir Gallery , one of  Mumbai's landmarks. A few years ago my daughter and I went there and bought something which bought of us liked,  at a fairly reasonable price. This time around there was another exhibition by an artist Piu Sarkar. While the paintings did not  interest me, the catalog describing the exhibition fascinated me.

I quote below sections of the write up by the artist as to what inspired her.

My images often results from a repetitive visual journey inside my mind as experienced in R.E.M and at times in lucid dreams -- flowing silently , involuntarily and in rhythm like a river which is choosing its own course till at some point when my soul feels deeply enwrapped and absolutely mesmerised as if by the tone of "a mystical music". It is only then I enter an "altered state of consciousness"; a state of non-ordinary mental space with zillion and million layers of an ever - engulfing "space-time"speed"tunnel which leads my being towards a brilliant yellowing-white light. It is only then I experience existing only in space without any awareness of measurement, time, object and forms around me. It is only then "the now"and eternity fuses into one experience. It is only then I experience "unconsciously conscious".

As in mythology ,it is around the tree of knowledge the cosmic women or Eve gained her first discovery of self-consciousness and hence became mortal. It is symbolic that before the cosmic woman thought to submit to a serpent's word or her own inner desire or the "the tree of knowledge:; unaware of guilt, shame, pain labour, agriculture and earthly death. I believe it it this state of ignorant initiation which enables our curios selves to invade , explore, play or experiment in order to learn and discover "a new path". In this phase of the  metamorphism of  self and  deeper aspects of soul live-relive only to once again resurface with a new vision , a new dream and a new will. 

Skipping a couple of paragraphs As an artist I'm not only trying to voice an idealistic utopian dream which beckons beyond our borders of conscious realities of everyday life but also questioning the very existence of our collective origin. ......

My paintings depict hidden-life depict hidden life-force in stones, meteors and asteroids as the are looking back at my viewers while telling them a story of another age;another planet and anther time which they have lived and still are by breathing as a soul or rather they are prehistoric echo in of fossils and remain from another age. Eyes in my paintings symbolise perception and sensitivity and in a way we all share a fine level of that invisible chain between plants, insects, animals, elements,stones and us......

Also included in the catalogue were comments by Keshav Malik and Pranabranjan Roy

The former ...Instead of relying on the fortuitous , the painting is given content by artistic values belonging to all times. Well,it is in some such way a good artist's work. Te traditional realistic manner, based on the observation of the changing appearances of nature,is felt to be inadequate.Means are thus sought to enhance the interpretation of inspirational idea.Distraction and superfluous accretions are eliminated.The main them having thus been isolated and set free from all accidental circumstances, it is given a new environment in which ideal spatial dimensions to replace those of nature, facilely apparent to the unaided eye........

The latter ...it must , however, be admitted that the painters like Piu Sarkar who get possessed by the idea and act of paintings - usually get to act under some  inner compulsion which tend to get manifested through the images they create.  Such compulsions , often, are more mental than cerebal or skilful. The cathartic expressions of mental compulsion that Piu's paintings are have their secrets encoded in the images and imageries of her painting. The decoding of the coded visuals offer the primary ground of engagement with Piu's work. .......    No less important is the composite  biomorhism of each image. Not only the icons of human females are mermaid- like, most images irrespective of their being primarily animate, are natural phenomenon and have features of other zoological entities,giving them the appearances of composite zoomorphic beings that are :phenomenologically, non-existent. Aquatic beings, amphibians and serpents of unknown species,especially, are the creatures of Piu's paintings come alive, through being endowed with strange zoomorphic dynamism......... The imaginary composite-species images, the biomorphic representation of all kinds of natural features , near total absence of representation of all man-made objects and the configuration of imagery evoking primordial landscapes, tend to suggest that Piu's imagination revolves round construction of personal mythology..........

All the above bring to mind my late teens, the late sixties and early seventies when one read about the  hallucinogenic drugs LSD, STP , Timothy Leary and books by a couple of authors Carlos Casteneda and Lobsang Rampa . Both of them talked about their experiences ( which were doubted later on), and their ability to see  hallucinogenic visions.

Carlos Castenada, describes his training in shamaism. From my memory of the books it describes the visual imagery he saw under the influence of peyote, a catcus flower which according to Wikipedia  is "Known for its psychoactive properties when ingested, peyote is used world wide as an"entheogen and supplement to various transcendence  practices, including meditation, psyconautics, and psychedelic psychotherapy . Peyote has a long history of ritualistic and medicinal use by indigenous Americans.

Lobsang Rampa - a British author who claimed to have been a Tibetian lama in his former life and he described his visions though his "third eye".

Then you had Timothy Leary , a Harvard professor who advocated the use of psychedelic drugs.

My naive appreciation of art ( painting or sculpture ) was that it was  something which is visually or technically appealing, which makes you look at a work twice or thrice or longer  and appreciating the skill and vision represented, without trying to get into the artist's head. Obviously I have a lot to learn. You have to be able to travel back into time or have the ability to travel intergalactically to be able to paint.

Not knowing very much about art and what inspires the artist, reading the catalog and  descriptions I now  have visions of the artist strung out  seeing zoomorphic and biomorpism images , while painting. If that is what it takes to paint then I can visualize Michelangelo straining his neck, totally strung out on the scaffolding while painting the Sistine Chapel. Similarly Leonardo under the influence which allowed him to paint Mona Lisa and be able to visualize the optical illusion of having her look at you no matter which angle you look at her from.

I obviously have a lot to learn and could never make it as art critic.



 

Let Us Corporatize Religion !!!

In my blog of April 19th The Church vs Mammon (see link below ), I had talked about the fraying  lines between the  church vs mammon. I have just received confirmation that the line has finally dissolved. I recently read a  news item about a Chinese Buddhist shrine Putuo, which also has a mountain resort , testing the waters for a Initial Public Offering of Dollars One Hundred and Eighteen million .

Around about the same time, news items started appearing about  The Institute for the Works of Religion (IOR) or The Vatican Bank as it is commonly known, trying to clear its name of involvement in money laundering. This is not the first time that the God's bank has been under a dark cloud. In the 1980's also there were similar rumors which supposedly lead to the the death of a senior Italian banker Roberto Calvi ,who reportedly committed suicide by hanging himself from a bridge in London.

This is not a isolated incident. Religious institutions from around the world  have been involved in questionable financial deals. The Bishops of  Holy and Great Monastery of Vatopedi  in Greece were implicated in a real estate scandal not too long ago.

There are numerous incidents of the Muslim Wakf  Boards in India (among the largest holders of real estate in India on behalf of charity) entering into  special deals with businessmen, real estate developers and politicians .According to the Tehelka magazine, in Karnataka state alone, about 20,000 acres out of a total of 54,000 acres of property  owned by the Karnataka Wakf Board  worth approximately forty billion dollars has been encroached upon . Even if it is one-tenth the estimated amount, it is quite substantial.  These are not isolated incidents. In almost every religion , there have been such scandals.

All this is not surprising.Religious institutions are among the largest holders of real estate and other forms of wealth, gold, precious stones or art, in almost every single country.This  results  from either purchases or gifts received from  the state or by donors over the centuries.The latest Economist magazine reports of efforts underway to compensate the church in the Czech Republic for properties sized when the communists came to power in 1948. Prior to that the church was the largest holder of real estate in the country.

As countries develop and prosper, the value of these properties appreciate.You will have conniving  administrators working closely with  businessmen and politicians, to find a way to dislodge the ownership,  especially since historical records of these properties tend to be fuzzy.

The Putuo shrine has  now opened the door for the religious institutions to become more transparent and maybe create liquidity in the market place.Considering the daily income received by the temples, mosques, churches, some creative investment bankers can perhaps securitize these income streams. The Tirupati temple in India, generates millions yearly  from the auction of hair trimmed  from pilgrims.Ten year bonds could be issued to build a school or a hospital , with the repayments coming  from income stream from these auctions. This is just a small revenue stream for the temple. 

Perhaps the Vatican can incorporate itself and become the biggest corporate in the world. Its entire holdings of art, treasures,property and other holdings  will  have to be disclosed and marked to market .It  will  also have to publish  yearly statements.It will have to clearly spell out how much is spent on charity and how much on defending priests accused of wrong doings.

This could be  a model for other religious institutions such as The Golden temple, Tirupati and other places of worship.Perhaps then the money will be put to good use,rather than lying in bank accounts or invested in gold bars, diamonds, or art lying in vaults.

 This is of course wishful thinking , because it  will then end the battle between the state and the church, with the latter being subjected to the judiciary if wrong doings are found ,whether by priests or the  lay administrators. The mystique of the church would then be removed and that  of course, is not going to be allowed to happen.

For the Investment Bankers, one word of caution, make sure that these deals do well, otherwise you run the risk of excommunication or being literally consigned to hell. 


TheChurch vs Mammon
 http://avib-randomthoughts.blogspot.in/2012/04/chuch-vs-mammon.html

It Is Not Impossible To Succeed In The Infrastructure Sector In India.

In my blog dated February 2011, I mentioned that I did not understand why funding infrastructure was such a problem in India ? Good projects with good sponsors should be able to do that.

Today I read an article in the Asian Wall Street Journal that CLP India Ltd a wholly owned subsidiary of a CLP Holdings Ltd, Hong Kong,  was thinking of listing its India operations. It started its operations in India in 2002 by acquiring  a majority stake in a 650 megawatt gas powered plant project in Gujarat, which it now owns one hundred percent. It also owns a 1,320 Megawatt coal based plant at Jhajjar in Haryana which should be fully operational soon. It runs wind farms totaling 500 MW and expects to raise the capacity by 44% by mid-2013 to 720 Megawatt. It is also looking at opportunities in solar power and other projects.

According to the article, the Chief Executive Rajiv Mishra, stated that "We operate at the lower end of the risk spectrum,” . “We are very conservative that way ". Historically it has raised debt mostly from multi-national lending agencies such as ADB, overseas commercial banks and the  rest of the funds from its own cash flows and from the parent. Selling shares and forming joint ventures for power projects will be a shift in the company’s strategy, according to Mr.Mishra

Now perhaps someone can explain to me why is it that a foreign company with no previous experience in India can very successfully  complete  projects totaling 2,470 Megawatts in different sectors in the space of ten years, without  making any  excuses about delay due to government approvals, or complaining about feedstock prices going up, asking for subsidized coal or the hundred of excuses which the Indian project sponsors continuously make for delaying their projects ? Do they have better political connections then any of the business houses. I would be surprised if Micheal Kadoorie , whose family controls the company, has ever met the Prime Minster, the Finance  Minister, or the Vice Chairman of The Planning Commission  - perhaps  I am wrong ? To the best of my knowledge , which is of course limited,  the only connection that Micheal  Kadoorie had  with India was through his grandfather - originally from Iraq  who first came to Bombay and then moved on to Shanghai where he made his fortune.

Having done deals for CLP during my banking days, I will be looking forward  to buying  their shares when they list locally. It will be the only  power infrastructure  stock  in my portfolio.

Is This The Beginning Of The End Of The Terrorism Problem For India ?

Is the recent arrest of one of the mastermind of the 26/11 terrorist attack at Mumbai ,a signal that the terrorist movement against India is going to start declining ? It is wishful to think  that this will happen over night. However if you view the parties involved in apprehending the Abu Jundal , you have to  come to the conclusion that  the geopolitics of the  sub-continent are beginning to change. According to the news paper reports, it was cooperation between the Indian, the United States and the Saudi Arabian intelligence agencies which lead to the suspected terrorist  being arrested in Riyadh and put on a plane to Delhi. This in spite of the terrorist holding a Pakistani passport.

Would this have happened twelve to twenty four months ago ? The answer is unlikely. What has changed in the meantime? In my opinion the following broader changes have happened which lead to such cooperation.

1. Over the last twelve to eighteen months the squabble between Pakistan and the United States has gotten worse. The latter feels that the former refuses to play by the ground rules and it has reached the end of its patience.It is gradually stepping away from its main ally against its fight with the Taliban. It is openly courting India in every way not just as a sign of its displeasure with Pakistan, but as a potentially ally against China. It is also  encouraging India to play a more active role in Afghanistan.It would not have done that a few years ago for fear of incurring Pakistan's displeasure.

2. The Middle Eastern countries which are among the biggest supporters of Pakistan and among  its biggest financiers, are beginning to realize that the energy geopolitics are changing. The United States which used to be its biggest customer , is going to become a net exporter over the next few decades. This will  result in these countries searching for customers elsewhere. Europe is likely to continue to rely on Russia for its gas,and  if Poland starts exploiting its shale reserve, it will be a big supplier to the European Union market. That leaves China and India the other big and growing potential customers. While they have been buying from the Middle East, Iran has been one of the largest suppliers. Once Iraq and Libya and the other offshore fields in Africa step up their production, competition is going to get tougher.With the United States loosing its interest in the Middle East, the kingdoms there will have to find new friends. Unfortunately it is no longer a case of " my friend's enemy is my enemy ". National interest and self preservation comes first.Over the last few years countries such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have started re-building  the ties  which they have had historically with India and which had frayed until recently.

3. That leaves Pakistan with China its " all weather friend". It  will continue to support Pakistan - but up to a limit. If some of its ethnic provinces which have large Muslim populations  are infiltrated by the terrorist operating out the Pakistan , China will have to re-consider. Also China's trade with India and the potential to expand is many times more than that with Pakistan. The all weather friend might become a " fair weather friend"

4. Interestingly enough one of the Taliban web-sites actually congratulated India on not becoming a lackey of the United States and for being independent minded. Not quite sure  what to make of it, but  being an eternal optimist, I would take it as a positive sign and think that the Taliban is washing its hand off the Pakistan-India sixty year old squabble and saying we no longer  want to be  part of it.

 If all of  the above happens, the funding taps are going to be turned off, the safe havens of refuge are going to disappear. In today's world it is no longer enough to have passion for a cause and fight for it. You need to have the infrastructure to support the network and that requires not just the financial support, but also the nod and the wink of the authorities. For that to happen, there has to be a political angle or a financial angle.As they say in Hong Kong , no money, no talk.

On top of that Pakistan has its own internal problems both political and financial. On the political front you have the military, the politicians, and the judiciary all battling each other. Its finances are in a difficult situation.  The money pipelines are slowly being withdrawn.What then is the motivation for Pakistan to continue to wage a futile battle with India ? With nuclear weapons it is no longer a case of who wins? Both loose.Unless the leaders themselves together with  their families , are  prepared  to commit jihad , it does not make sense to continue with this effort.

The best way forward is for them to follow  the example of Nelson Mandela ,and Daw Aung Sung Sui Kyi to try and wipe the slate clean.The leaders need to press the restart button on  the pathway to prosperity for the entire sub-continent and re-claim the common culture and heritage.

Globilisation - Elevator Music

It used to be that when you entered a elevator in a international city such as Hong Kong, Singapore, London or New York, you would end up hearing a variation of Kenny G smooth saxaphone but over the last few years it has been changing and becoming increasing global.

During my last years at HSBC when I used to visit the the head office, I used to stay at the Four Seasons at Canary Wharf. It was not unusual to occasionally  hear Bollywood music in the elevator including one of my favorite Chaiya Chaiya. Catering to a international clientele it was perhaps not surprising that it had a wide selection of international music. On a recent visit to Hong Kong  in a shopping mall  elevator,  my wife and I were both surprised to hear Bollyood music. We both looked at each other " Bollywood music in a Hong Kong elevator ?" To me that really means that Bollywood is finally going global.

I  presently have a office in a building in Gurgaon called Signature Towers where the tenant mix is a combination of local and multinational ( including Asian multinationals) companies. Ever since I have been here, the music in the elevators was traditional "bhajans" , Hindu religious music in the mornings and Bollywood during the days. However over the last couple of weeks the person responsible,seems  to have decided that it was time for a change. Since than much to my pleasant surprise and joy, not just the elevators, but lobbies have been piping out country western music.

It is not just a few songs repeated over and over again, but a large selection ranging from Johnny Cash, to Glen Campbell, to the Band. Hearing old favourites such  as Bobby McGee, Down by Cripple Creek, The Gambler that I have to control myself singing along and being stared at. The other people in the elevators  , particularly the young are quite confused and keep asking why are they playing this strange English music. Perhaps Lady Gaga or Seal might be more to their liking , but from my perspective, the elevator disc jockey can keep playing this. Better than Bhajans any day.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Since my blog posting, I went down to the administration office and  gave them a eight CD set " The Ultimate Rock Collection " which they agreed to play and now I have my own private elevator music.

The Villians In Society

  

 Recent losses incurred by JP Morgan , supposedly due to lax risk management ,has again raised the controversy about bankers.Almost all articles mentioned that the Head of the Department was paid  fourteen million dollars as compensation last year. This has once more  raised the noise pitch of  the media and the social chatter about these wicked greedy bankers.But are bankers any different than most other professionals or business men ? Lets look at the different strata of society and he who is without sin can cast the first stone.

The Indian Medical Infrastructure has been coming apart at the seams. When we were growing up, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences was recognized and still is  probably the best post graduate institute for medicine with a attached  hospital. They have among the best doctors in the country. Unfortunately like everything else in India , the government has not invested in replicating this center of excellence across the country ( except in a few limited locations),  as they are doing for the Indian Institute of Technology.

With the growing population and the increase in income level, this has left a void and private institutions have rightly jumped in .They have built five star facilities with the state of  the art medical devices. India does not produce as many doctors as required. We  have among the lowest doctor per population ratio in the world.

The owners and administrators of these hospitals have been head hunting the best doctors from the government and armed forces hospitals and offering salaries on par with bankers. However the  catch is, like bankers they have to bring in the revenue to be able to make the big bucks. Thus when you go there you will be required to go through a battery of tests ( some of which might be of marginal use and of which I am led to believe that they get a percentage of the fee charges - reminds you of these evil bankers ?) and often be told that you require surgery which might not be necessary. I have been at the receiving end of one of these.

 

Having said that you do occasionally come across  doctors who stick to their Hippocratic oath as I had the experience recently. I had gone to a private hospital  fully expecting to have to go in for  a minor but important surgery, but the doctor  was extremely firm and insistent that it was not necessary and stuck to his guns. This was confirmed by a second opinion I got from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences. Regretfully these are few and far between. This gets worse for the low income workers, the working classes and in the rural ares,  who regularly get gypped by the doctors to take unnecessary tests. In the villages, they seem to think the panacea for all illness is either getting an injection or being put on a inter venous drip, with the latest being asked to go for a scan.These are the people you rely for your well being and in some of these cases, could be a matter of life or death.

Lets now switch to sports.Cricketers in India are adulated by the masses and the media. The stars are rewarded handsomely when they perform well .  The God of Indian cricket has recently been nominated to the Upper House of the Parliament. But are they all clean? Ever so often there are stories in the media about matches being fixed. Recently one of the television channels conducted a sting on some of the Indian Professional League players where they were filmed talking about how some of the matches were fixed. I do not know whether that is true, but viewing some of the matches of late, I have always had my doubts, when a bowler who does brilliantly in the first three overs suddenly performs miserably in the  second or last over which makes them loose a match. There have been too many of them of late.Perhaps this is just a coincidence and the bowler is tired towards the end. Also there have been allegations of match fixing in other sports as well and what about athletes taking drugs to enhance their performance  The cricket sting accusations also allege that the owners who are among the top business houses in India  are aware of the match fixing

Some of the top business houses are also linked with the numerous scams which involve paying off politicians whether is it for band width or access to iron ore or to coal mines or defence contracts.  Allegations have been made also against the multinational drug companies for not conducting the appropriate drug trials before marketing. On a smaller scale, staff of multinationals find ways to skim on premises for staff or supplies.You hear stories of buyers for stores or retail outlets from the developed world demanding either entertainment or other means of pay offs. Suppliers whether they are garment exporters or other goods suppliers have to do so if they want to get the large volume orders to which these buyers hold the key.

 Tomes could be written about  bureaucrats and politicians.Daily there are news stories about these two being involved in some scam or scandal. From the most junior to the most senior persons in both the category. When you talk to real estate brokers in Delhi or Gurgaon  as to why the market has not adjusted, considering the state of the economy and the high interest rates, the answer promptly is " money from the Commonwealth Games and other  scams is being recycled". Believe it if you want, but I am sure there is some element of truth in it.The politicians and bureaucrats are regularly accused of siphoning off the equivalent of hundreds of millions from programmes meant for the poor and needy as a result of which they starve and in some cases commit suicide. 

I could continue ad infinitum  about movie stars, management consultants, lawyers, policemen, the armed forces, the media and others.You could sift through all layers of society and professions and you will find that each of them have their shares of bad apples. Bankers are no better or worse.

The Church vs Mammon

It is now official. Archbishop Desmond Tutu in an article in the Financial Times of April 4th, says that it is now just as easy for the rich man to pass through the eye of the needle as a camel. There is no contradiction between faith and mammon. You no longer have to live a life of austerity to prove your faith. The Russian oligarchs, the Arab rulers, the hedge fund managers, Donald Trump  and our very own Vijay Mallya, I am sure, will be greatly relived.

I have to confess that I have never seen the contradiction, since the Church ( or the Temple, Synagogue, Mosque, Pagoda or the Gurdwara or other places of worship ) never had any issue accepting donations from the rich. In many religions the tithe or its equivalent is compulsory. You could be a robber baron or just a plain robber, and  still be a man or  a woman of faith  if you donated to the Church. Over the centuries the Church has grown rich through donations from kings and nobles, who were responsible for terrible massacres and rape and pillage as a result of their  conquests.There has always been a nexus between  the rulers ( whether they are kings or politicians ) and the priests ,  who work out an arrangement of back scratching to suit their purposes.

It is not my intention to discredit religion, since it does play a very important role in setting some ground rules for civilized behavior, even if most of them are not carved in stone or  in a golden book . It is also  something  you turn to when you are desperate and have no where else to go.

However over the centuries religion has been hi-jacked by its guardians or interpreters who insist that religion is too complicated for it to be understood by the layman.They become the  enforcers and have  over a period of time enjoyed  the power and privilege that they refuse to let go. There are stories from every religion whether it is the Popes who had mistresses or the Brahmin priests who took advantage of the temple maidens or the Mullahs who extort their flock that jihadism is the only way to salvation , where they will have  unlimited earthly delights in the form of vestal virgins.The priests have created heaven and hell and they have become the gate keepers.

Every religion has parables as to how the various prophets always favored the poor against the rich. I remember my grandmother telling me one about the founder of the Sikh religion Guru Nanak. In one of his frequent travels he was invited to have a meal and to rest  at the house one of the richest man in the province, yet he chose to spend the night  in a poor man's hovel and share his meal. When one his followers questioned him, he is supposed to have picked up the food offered by the rich man in one hand and the poor mans offering in the other. He then squeezed both. Out of one flowed blood and out of the other milk.

Just as the the kings and emperors built huge palaces, the priest have encouraged  their believers to contribute to building larger and larger edifices to glorify God. Look at the holiest of holy places of all religions and you will see the amount of money which has been lavished over the centuries.The religious institutions are among the worlds wealthiest institutions.  And yes while some of them use  part of  the wealth  to benefit society such as  building  hospitals, schools and other institutions, but at the same time large amounts are siphoned off by the minders or in the case of the Catholic Church to defend misdeeds by the priests. A lot more could be done in using the daily collections by these places of worship for the betterment of the society or prohibit the people from making financial or other rich offerings. Raise money only for a specific cause instead of building ever grander edifices.

While the paths might be different, one thing all religions seem to agree on is that God is within you.  If so why do we need to have such ostentatious places to  worship ? I quote below from Kabir one of the mystic poets  who preached the universality of religion.

Are you looking for me?
I am in the next seat.
My shoulder is against yours.
you will not find me in the stupas,
not in Indian shrine rooms,
nor in synagogues,
nor in cathedrals:
not in masses,
nor kirtans,
not in legs winding around your own neck,
nor in eating nothing but vegetables.
When you really look for me,
you will see me instantly —
you will find me in the tiniest house of time.
Kabir says: Student, tell me, what is God?
He is the breath inside the breath.”

Corruption

Recently we were with some friends and their two sons who are in their mid-twenties. As always the conversation drifted to India and to the moral decay. This is similar to the conversation  we have when our two children come home for holidays as well. It is difficult not to talk about corruption in India when it hits you in your face every day, when you open the news paper, when you switch on the television set, when you drive your car and the policeman pulls you to the side for a make believe traffic violation. It is difficult to have hope when you see daily the politicians and bureaucrats get away with ripping off the country with the equivalent of million of dollars through Common Wealth Games scam, telecom scam, coal auction scam, defense contracts scams and so on. The media highlights these for a period but ultimately they get brushed under the carpet. After all how “how many angels can dance on the head of a pin” ?How many scams and scandals can you fit on a page or a television screen every night ?

From the young people's perspective who want things to change, it is hard to convince them that things will get better and the fact  that these are even being talked about is a good sign. It is difficult to explain to them that all countries go through this phase during economic development. The United Kingdom went through this. You have to read  Charles Dickens  to get an appreciation of the  rampant state of corruption including the judiciary. It was similar in the United States in Chicago, New York and other American cities in the early nineteen hundreds and into the thirties and the forties. It was not all Brideshead Revisited or The Great Gatsby.

However that was then.  It is hard for them to understand that even with modern technologies why is it so difficult to clean up the system. However with a population of one point two billion people and still growing, it is going to be a while for the society to cleanse itself.

In fairness, the government's intention has been well meaning and the funds allocated to meet  the basic requirements has been increasing substantially . However there is a vast difference between what gets allocated and what is actually spent. The development economists euphemistically refer to this as “leakages ". This is a polite way of saying that the money is being siphoned off to the pockets of politicians, bureaucrats and others who are involved in the implementation of these programmes. It is difficult to quote any precise figures but based on anecdotal evidence, the actual number which is actually spent cannot be more twenty five percent , probably  less. It varies from state to state .Some states do a much better job than the others. Even with that I am not sure there is any state which comes anywhere to achieving over seventy five percent implementation.

The question then arises as to what and how is to be done?

First and foremost accept that the fact that you will never bee able to eliminate corruption totally. No country has and no country will be able to regardless of what the government says. Let me give you a few examples of countries which are often quoted and who hold themselves to have high standards of governance.

The United States
The Economist March 15^th,2012
"Rod  Blagojevich, a former governor of Illinois….. was convicted last year of bribery, wire fraud and trying to sell a Senate seat. He is the fourth governor of Illinois out of the last seven to be convicted, and adds to the 1,828 public corruption convictions the state saw between 1976 and 2010. A report by the University of Illinois at Chicago estimates that corruption costs the state more than $500m ( small change by Indian standards )  a year. Two states had even higher numbers of appointees, government employees (and a few private individuals) convicted of public corruption: New York, with 2,522 convictions and California with 2,345 convictions. Of the largest states though, Illinois had the highest per person conviction rate, at 1.4 per 10,000 population. With little over 600,000 residents, the District of Columbia had a rate of nearly 17."

The United Kingdom 
The Mirror News April 2^nd 2012 
“Access on a plate: PM's secret lavish dinners with party donors
DAVID Cameron had a string of secret lavish dinners with party donors in the mansions of rich backers, it was revealed yesterday.The PM was under mounting pressure last night to come clean about ALL his private meetings with donors following fresh sleaze allegations.Labour said he had "incredibly serious" questions to answer after he was accused of covering up a series of meetings with disgraced former party treasurer Peter Cruddas and donors - including an event at the PM's country retreat, Chequers.

Former standards commissioner Sir Alistair Graham said Mr Cameron was "in danger of falling into the sleaze category" by not being straight about his links to big money donors”

Ever so often you have news items about British Parliamentarians raising questions in Parliament if you paid them a few hundred pounds. About Parliamentarians and government officials  fudging  expense accounts. Even the extend royal family has been dragged into scandals about money for access.Of late you had the Parliamentary committee investigating the close ties between the senior executives of News Corp and the Police.

France
In France allegations have been made against  the former IMF chief and who had been considered a potential candidate for Presidential elections for being involved with a prostitution racket.

Hong Kong

Closer to home ( at least for me, since I spent a greater part of my life there) in Hong Kong, the former Chief Executive Donald Tsang was accused of having accepted favors from business tycoons. Also the Independent Commission Against Corruption has initiated investigations against the former Chief Secretary ( effectively the number two after the Chief Executive ) and two of richest real estate tycoons in the world - the Kwok brothers. As an aside when I first reached Hong Kong the clean up process had just started by the then Governor Murray Maclehose, so I am disappointed to see that the clock is being reversed.

China

In China, I think I can sum it up  by quoting a line from a book review in the Financial Times  by Chris Patten, the last British Governor of  Hong Kong " the remark of the old Maoist, Deng Liqun in the 1990s that if the party bosses did not eradicate graft, they would lose the support of the people; but if they did, they would lose party members."  Sounds familiar does it not ? The present leadership is still struggling with it as was evident with the fall from grace of Bo Xilai a princeling in  Chongqing.

I could go on and on, but it is obvious that corruption prevails in every single country. However it is not as invasive as it is  in India. How do we resolve this and how do we minimize it ?

While some amount of corruption is explainable (not condoned) as money  needed to fight elections, lets legalize it as the United States has done, including using the Public Action Committee which is  nothing more than a vehicle used to target a component without the candidate actually spending money.

In India, the reason given to justify corruption among the bureaucrats is that their salaries are low, which is not true , either in absolute terms or the equivalent on a "cost to company" basis. Pay them the equivalent of the  private sector , as they do in Singapore and let them find their own accommodation, pay for their own health care, pay for their own clubs, their own transportation and so on.. Let them commute for hours as the private sector does, but pay them cash up front. If they then don't perform or are caught red-handed, nail them to the wall.

The issue here is not that the laws do not exist. The issue here is that of implementation . Ever so often the stars align, as they are presently and  you have a Chief Justice, a Comptroller And Auditor General Of India, and The Election Commissioner ,  supported by  their peers who take it upon themselves  to do the job of the government. Also you have an increasing number of  individuals who file Public Interest Litigation cases to highlight scandal after scandal.What is needed is to increase the number of courts and also track the performance of the judiciary at the lower courts. Also have a time bound schedule for all cases.

It is difficult to expect  the political parties to take the lead ,because almost every single party is tainted. If the young princelings are serious about making a difference they should set an example and bar any one  with a criminal case pending against them from being given a legislative assembly  or parliament  ticket or making him or her a minister at the state or central level.

None of the above ideas are new and I am sure that there are a lot more out of the box ideas as to how corruption can be minimized. As Gurcharan Das said in one of his presentations, you will see major changes start to happen when the middle class reaches approximately fifty percent. In my opinion it will take a couple more decades where corruption will decrease and will reduce the impact on a day to day basis. Lets look forward to that day. I am not sure it will happen during my life, but I am confident that it will in my children's life time.

Go To Daddy

The Prime Ministers Office has issued a diktat to the Board of Coal India Ltd , a public limited company with domestic and foreign  shareholders to sign long term  feedstock contracts with power generators to provide coal regardless of whether it is able to mine it or not. If they cannot mine domestically they will be forced to buy overseas and if necessary to bear the losses. ( Upfront declaration - I own a few hundred shares of Coal India Limited). The power generators are among the top names in the industry. This is the height of absurdity.

Most of these companies bid very aggressively for setting up large power generating plants, based on power supply contracts. Some of them were also allocated captive coal mines. In addition some of them bought coal mines in Australia and Indonesia. Now they find that they cannot produce domestically for political or environmental reasons. Also countries such as Indonesia have insisted that the coal prices be priced at international prices and not be transfer priced. Accordingly these power companies find them selves in a financial tangle since they priced their supply contracts at a low price to get the green light.  So what do they do now ?They  go running to Daddy.

Daddy then tells Coal India Limited, the largest coal company in the world , whose staff keeps asking for more wages, and which is facing the same problem as the private sector in terms of increasing production to sign this contract..The independent directors of Coal India Limited refused to support it. Now with the orders coming directly from the President of India,Coal India  will effectively be subsidizing the the private sector power generators. Damn the shareholders.

A more effective way would be for the government  to give tax breaks or subsidize the power generators for the price difference between  domestic and international prices  and allow  them to  import the directly.. As Coal India's largest shareholder, it will also be foregoing dividends which will not be paid because of potential losses. Subsidize the companies  directly and let Coal India operate like a normal commercial organization, After all with all the subsidies which the government hands out every year, whats a few more thousand crores?

On Indians

The Times of India of March 31st had a column on opinions about Indians from both Indians and non-Indians. I thought it was interesting and am repeating the quotes in italics.

Mumbai  High Court
"Spitting is an inherit character of our people"

In six months in 2011 Mumbaikars had paid the equivalent of Dollars Four Hundred and Fifty thousand in fines. I am surprised that the High Court did not say that  urinating by the road side is also an inherit character of the Indian male. Imagine the revenue which the cities in India would generate if it imposed fines on this activity. However it would also be another source of  revenue for the enforcers.

Markandey Katju
Chairman -Press Council of India

According the Times , Katju has been coming out with gems since he was appointed to this post. His latest "90% of people in India are fools. Their minds are full of superstitions, communalism,and casteism."  .. "people say that the media must provide the customer what it wants. Unfortunately most people in India are of a very low intellectual level,steeped in casteism, communalism,superstitions, and all kinds of feudal and backward ideas"

Ah - the arrogance of self confidence at the extreme. Must have something to do from being from Nehru's hometown of Allahabad !!

Greg Chappell
Australian Cricketer and former Indian coach
"The (Indian) culture is very different. They lack leaders because they are not trained to be leaders. From an early age, their parents make all the decisions. They learn not to take any responsibility"

In effect they are all Mama's boys. No wonder we have more than our proportionate share of women leaders such as  Indira Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, Mamta Banerjee, Mayawati, Sheila Dixit, Jayalalitha  and so on. The real successful war which we won hands down was the war for Bangladesh under Indra Gandhi. Perhaps we should have an all women's cricket team against the Australian men. Could teach them a lesson or two.



Gulam Nabi Azad
Union Health Minister and Senior Congress Leader
" If there is electricity in every village, people will watch TV till late night and then fall asleep. They won't get a chance to produce children. When there is no electricity, there is nothing else to do to produce babies" .

Of course people in cities do not produce children. Perhaps the next list of  freebies for the Indian  politicians should include  I phones and I pads which do not require electricity ( except for charging where they can now use solar lights with phone charging extensions). However there is some truth to Azad's comments. A couple of decades ago when New York had a black out for a day or two, the birth rate that year actually shot up.

Shahid Afridi
Pakistani Cricketer
"Indians will never have hearts like Muslims and Pakistanis. I don't think they have the large and clean hearts that Allah has given us. It is a very difficult thing for us to live with them or to have a long term relationship with them"
 
Unless being born in Pakistan gives Afridi or the Pakistani a special  heart cleansing gene, he is perhaps not aware that India has the second largest Muslim population in the world after Indonesia. So on a numerical basis we beat Afridi's country men  in terms of the number of people with cleaner hearts . In terms of long term  relationships , perhaps the Americans might have some thing to say about that.

President Nixon
Indians are "a slippery treacherous people"

Henry Kissinger
"Indians are bastards anyway.They're the most aggressive goddam people around "

This coming from tricky Dick and his key lieutenant was a bit rich. No wonder many of his aides ended up on the wrong side of the law, defending their patron. If you haven't I suggest you read Philip Roth's " Our Gang" about President Nixon and his team.

Maureen Chao
US Vice Consul while talking to students in Chennai
" I was on a 24 hour train trip from Delhi to Orrisa.But after 72 hours, the train still did not reach its destination ... and my skin became dark and dirty like the Tamilians"

I believe that Hillary Clinton chose her for  " The diplomat of the year " award and she is now being considered as a possible candidate  to become the next  Dean of The  Fletcher School of Diplomacy at Tufts University. I think she boned up on India by reading the matrimonial advertisements where all males are looking for wives with wheatish  or fair complexion.Also by  watching the television advertisements where every second advertisement is for a fairness cream for making not just women " fair and lovely" but also men " fair and handsome" . One even goes to the extreme of assuring you that it will make your under arms fair. I can see Biphasa Basu doing a item number from a  Bollywood version of  Maria from the West Side Story with her arms raised and the spotlight shining on her arm pits and singing "I feel pretty, white and witty  "

The Dalai Lama
"I feel sometimes people in India are lazy .... look at the Chinese,they work hard.  ..Wherever they go, they make China towns.However, nowhere in the world there are any India towns. "

Having seen and read many of his interviews, it is obvious that he has a sense of humor and his remarks are tongue in cheek. But nevertheless maybe his Holiness should ask  his minders to take him to  "Little India"in Singapore, Southall in London, Canal Street in New York and similar such places in Chicago, Toronto and other major cities around the world. 

Pratyush Sinha
India's Outgoing Chief  Vigilance Commissioner
"One third of Indians are corrupt, half are borderline, and that is job was a thankless one".

Reading the newspapers and watching the television , where there is a new corruption or a scam story  every day, all one can say to his comment is  "Amen".

The Battle of the Inheritors

 In a recent book , India - A Portrait by  Patrick French, the author   estimated that almost forty five percent of the candidates for elections are from dynastic political families.Unlike Pakistan and the Philippines were the seats are held by families who are from the land owning classes, in India it is from families whose main business is politics - or as they say in Hindi  "Netagiri". To quote  Shakespeare completely out of context , in India the inheritors are "born great ,( instead ) of achieving greatness or having greatness thrust upon them".

A few weeks ago , we were glued to the television following the state legislature elections in five of the states in India. In order of importance they are Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttrakhand, Manipur and Goa. The national ruling party  Congress  was in power Manipur and Goa. The main opposition party The Bhartiya Janata Party ruled Uttrakhand and played a supporting role in Punjab. In Uttar Pradesh the ruling party was a lower caste dominated party Bhaujan Samaj Party. The main media focus was on Uttar Pradesh and Punjab. 

In Uttar Pradesh you had Rahul Gandhi -  Rajiv Gandhi's son and Indra Gandhi's grandson , on one side and Akhilesh Yadav , son of  Maulayam Singh Yadav - head of the  Samajwadi Party and a former Chief Minister of the state on the other. In Punjab you had Sukhbir Singh  Badal,son of the Prakash Singh Badal head of the Shiromani Akali Dal, the reigning party, leading the campaign  against the Congress leader Amarinder Singh, the former Maharaja of Patialia, who was the previous  Chief Minister of Punjab.Interestingly Rahul, Akhilesh and Sukhbir received part of their education overseas.

The Samajwadi Pary won in Uttar Pradesh and the Akali Pary in Punjab. Congress had used its big guns in Uttar Pradesh, one of the largest states in India with a population of two hundred million people, but had little to show for it. It retained Manipur and managed to dislodge the BJP in Uttarkhand. It lost in Goa,and Punjab.

In my opinion what won the election for the Yadavs and the Badals , was that they had a better sense of how to capture the votes. Also what was interesting in the campaign in both  Uttar Pradesh and Punjab was the difference in styles of campaigning of the privileged inheritors and the message they put out. 

For the last two years the media was fed images of Rahul Gandhi visiting the lower caste families and sharing their meals in Uttar Pradesh. In the last few months, he appeared increasingly comfortable in giving speeches in Hindi. However he came across as a strident , angry young man with his main target being Mayawati and occasionally the Yadavs. He was ably  supported by his sister Priyanka, who appeared much more at ease mingling with crowds than he was. His brother in law Robert Vadra also joined in the campaign with his group of easy riders. 

Akhilesh on the other hand criss-crossed the state, occasionally seen on a  bicycle ( which was the party's election symbol) or on top of a van, wearing his easily identified  crimson red Gandhi cap. He appeared more of a people's man and appeared more relaxed in his dealings with the common man , compared to Rahul Gandhi who was constantly surrounded by his group of minders. Gandhi focused on the misdeeds of the previous rulers while the Yadavs promised a basket full of goodies, ranging from free laptops to free electricity for farmers.

In Punjab the Badals and the former  Maharaja both  come from extremely privileged backgrounds, but at the end of the day the Badals prevailed, as they had a better sense of how to win the votes. Like the Yadavs, the promise of goodies got them the votes. Where the money is going to come from considering the perilous conditions of both  the states finances, appeared to be of least concern while making the promises.

Historically it is the incumbent party which gets voted out . Here again Amarinder Singh  focused mainly  on the mis-deeds of the ruling party instead of laying out an agenda for the Congress Party.  While generally the media tends to view the rural electorate as being unsophisticated,  what was interesting this time around in Punjab  compared to the previous elections was that the incumbents ( although in Uttar Pradesh , the Yadavs were not,they were in power prior to that ) were not voted out. The rural electorate decided that in terms of mis governance there was not much of a difference  between the Congress or the Akali Dal. So they opted to stay with the Badals and take the freebies. 

What the Congress party strategists  seemed to have overlooked by focusing on the mis-deeds of the opposition, was that almost every day the news papers and the television channels  were headlining some scams, scandals or the other involving the the Congress Party or their coalition parties. While you have many Congress party big wigs who appear regularly on the television debates showing how erudite they are by quoting Yeats and other English poets and Churchill, they seemed to have forgotten that votes of the viewers of the English speaking middle class  in the metropolitan cities do not determine who comes to power.  India now has multiple news channels in almost every language which can now be viewed in most rural areas.In addition they also forgot  the simple rule which applies to good governance as well as to being a good neighbor - people in glass houses should not throw stones .

Election Promises

Over the next couple of years we will be going into election mode, at the city , state and country level, not just in India but also in the United States, and other places . It will be good to maintain  a sense of humor . I am just posting some of the quotes which are going around. These were  passed on by an old friend from Hong Kong , who like me has nothing better to do. I do not know if they are real or not, but then who cares ?  They sound pretty good.

* The problem with political jokes is they get elected.    ~ Henry Cate, VII * We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office.    ~ Aesop * If we got one-tenth of what was promised to us in these acceptance speeches there wouldn't be any inducement to go to heaven.    ~ Will Rogers * Those who are too smart to engage in politics are punished by being governed by those who are dumber.    ~ Plato * Politicians are the same all over. They promise to build a bridge even where there is no river.      ~ Nikita Khrushchev * When I was a boy I was told that anybody could become President; I'm beginning to believe it.     ~ Clarence Darrow * Why pay money to have your family tree traced; go into politics and your opponents will do it for you.    ~ Author Unknown * If God wanted us to vote, he would have given us candidates.    ~ Jay Leno * Politicians are people who, when they see light at the end of the tunnel, go out and buy some more tunnel.    ~ John Quinton * Politics is the gentle art of getting votes from the poor and campaign funds from the rich, by promising to protect each from the other.    ~ Oscar Ameringer * The Democrats are the party that says government will make you smarter, taller, richer, and remove the crabgrass on your lawn. The Republicans are the party that says government doesn't work and then they get elected and prove it.    ~ P. J. O'Rourke * I offer my opponents a bargain: if they will stop telling lies about us, I will stop telling the truth about them.    ~ Adlai Stevenson, campaign speech, 1952 * A politician is a fellow who will lay down your life for his country.    ~ Texas Guinan * Any American who is prepared to run for President should automatically, by definition, be disqualified from ever doing so.    ~ Gore Vidal * I have come to the conclusion that politics is too serious a matter to be left to the politicians.    ~ Charles de Gaulle * Instead of giving a politician the keys to the city, it might be better to change the locks.    ~ Doug Larson * Don't vote, it only encourages them.    ~ Author Unknown * There ought to be one day - just one - when there is open season on senators.    ~ Will Rogers   Thanks old buddy.